The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B (Statistical Methodology) has a long tradition of publishing work that is at the leading edge of methodological development, with a strong emphasis on relevance to statistical practice. Included are papers on study design, statistical models, methods of analysis and the theory that underlies them - almost invariably motivated or illustrated by real examples. Series B aims to disseminate work which is innovative, insightful and likely to have a substantial impact on the way that data are collected and analysed; within these parameters the journal's scope is broad, embracing for example relevant work in applied probability, computational methods and the foundations of statistics. Methodological papers read before the Society at its Ordinary Meetings, organized regularly by the Research Section of the Society, are published in Series B with full discussion and authors' response.